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Tampa Bay Lightning Free Agency Breakdown | Best & Worst Signings, Departures & Biggest NHL Moves · Backchecking the Bolts

• Jason Linkes: Coming up on Back Checking the Bolts. We just can't have a free agent season without Julian Bruce Baud do doing something that makes us question his sanity a little bit, right? You know, ⁓ he's got to throw one oddball deal out there, and happens every year. ⁓ the term it is probably the weirdest contract of the day, I think, in the NHL. Welcome to Back Checking the Bolts. Back Checking the Bolts is your cup of coffee to get you the latest on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Join host Jason Lincas and the managing editor of Raw Charge. Justin Godfrey, as they break down the Lightning's most recent games and go beyond the highlights, telling you what the box scores didn't. It's time to drop the puck. Hi, everybody, and welcome to the free agency edition of Back Checking the Bolts. Hi, I'm your host, Jason Lincas. In a second, I'm going to introduce Justin Godfrey, but first we're going to break down what we're going to talk about today. Who did the bolts sign? John Carlson and company were going to break down the bolts signings. We're going to talk about the Nick Paul trade, but we're also going to talk about who the Bolts lost. Oliver Bjorkstrand, surprisingly, did not take much of a pay cut. We're gonna break down everything and some of the bigger signings around the league. Now I'm gonna introduce my co-host. You can reach him. You cannot just reach him. You can read him each and every day at www.racharge.com. He is Justin Godfrey. Justin, there was a lot of news out there right before free agency, and that big name was Zach Werensky. Are you a little bit surprised that he and Don Waddell basically they broke up at the bar? They came back the next day when he couldn't find an another girlfriend. He said, You know what? I'll come back. It's ch it just sort of reminded me of a bad breakup. What do you think? Yeah, I think we all know that couple that, you know, they have the big fight, the big blow up, and then they get back together and it's only a matter of time until it happens again. ⁓ You know, that being said, I think they're they are gonna give it a shot. I think ⁓ whereas he's kinda cooled down a little bit, maybe he got, you know, a little emo you know emotional and you know, was like I don't know, I don't see my future here. I don't know what's going on. I'm not gonna re sign. You know, take a look. And it it seems like Waddell did have an option. And I do wonder if the the lightning were that option. You know, there was a lot of smoke around that. ⁓ they seemed like a good fit as far as being a team on the East Coast that's in contention, which is something that he was looking for. ⁓ and then when it simmered back down, you know, sometimes you you know, as a player in a GM, sometimes you just have to clear your heads, get get everybody in that room together. And ⁓ kind of simmer simmer the tensions down, which is what it sounds like they did. ⁓ and once that happened, I wonder if that's when the lightning pivoted back to John Carlson and that's why that deal kind of took a little bit longer than and ⁓ folks were anticipating. No, I think that is why they signed Carlson. They were waiting to see what was gonna happen with Worensky. But I will say this Werensky still has yet to say that he will sign an extension. That's we could be at this moment In a month from now, in two months from now, the rumors are that he gave Columbus two destinations, Toronto and Tampa. Now we all know that Columbus has said we want ready now players. They wanted to make a hockey trade. They didn't want to get a bunch of picks and prospects. At the end of the day, Don Waddell, even though Worensky says, Hey, I want to be dealt, Don Waddell does not need to deal him. Werensky holds all the cards on where he goes. But Don Waddell could say, you know what, I'm gonna hold out. Eventually, he could hope that Werensky widens that list so he could get a better return. There was a lot of rumors out there that Dallas had a deal in place that was turned down by Worensky. And that makes me think that one, he asked for the trade. And two, he might be asking for a makeup just because right now he knows that Toronto or Tampa, neither of them will come to the plate with what Columbus will take in return. Yeah, I th I think at this point, you know, I think Toronto and Tampa are off the table, just, you know, cap wise. It sounds like for the rumors I saw, it was something along the lines of Moser, ⁓ maybe Connor Geeky and or Sam O'Reilly, one of those ready to go kind of NHL prospects that the Lightning have. And it is kind of where it benefited them a little bit because they don't have those futures that a lot of teams want for their big name players. They don't have a host of draft picks, they don't have a host of great A prospects, but what they do have, ⁓ are younger players that are kind of on that cusp that are ready to go that could fit right into a lineup. So if you're talking with Zach Rowinsky, would I have been mad about JJ Moser heading to Columbus in a deal? It wouldn't have been great, but I I think for a player like R R Rowinsky, it it makes sense, you know, especially if he's open to extending with you. Connor Geeky, he's kind of shown potential but hasn't quite grabbed onto that NHL spot. So in Columbus he would definitely have more of an opportunity to to go out there and play fifteen to twenty minutes a game. So I think th th if that was the deal, maybe with some picks thrown in as well, it would have been a decent deal on the Lightning's end. ⁓ but like I said, you know, Vursky could that if Columbus gets off to a bad start, you know, does he reopen the negotiations and be like, this isn't going in the direction I want. Columbus has kind of had a weird off season where they did re sign Charlie Coyle. ⁓ I think they just re signed Eric G Goodbranson today. Start bringing in some veteran parts, but are they getting better? You know, especially in that metropolitan division, which is a bit of a juggernaut with teams like ⁓ Carolina at the top, you know, Washington I thought had a really good off season and now it looks like Obetchan's coming back for another year. So that you know that's another team they gotta leap over. I thought Pittsburgh did pretty well with ⁓ some of their pickups, you know, not a lot of big names go into Pittsburgh, but they did, you know, grab a couple veterans and ⁓ Declan Carlisle being one of ⁓ And it you know, they're gonna be a tough team. So where's Columbus at right now? And does that affect Worwitski's decision moving forward? Where I thought it didn't make a whole lot of sense for Columbus, and this is where I differ a little bit, I get Mosier. Perfect. But the Lightning really don't have a ready made younger player who you could say, I'm going to throw into my top nine and be a contributor right away. Sam O'Reilly still has yet to play professional hockey. We don't know if he's gonna be here this year. Most likely he's gonna start the year in Syracuse. He's an intriguing prospect. But Connor Geeky has been up a couple years. Last year was a little bit of the back and forth. But does he truly project to be a top nine forward? That is where if the Lightning had that younger player who you could say, hey, I view him as a second or a third line player, I think that's the kind of player that could get this kind of deal over the hump. Maybe, maybe not, but it was interesting. A lot of the talk and a lot of the people were waiting on Werensky, as you'd mentioned, ⁓ And Justin, who did the bolts sign? Well, when they couldn't get Werensky, they got John Carlson a two-year deal, 17 million, eight and a half million against the cap. I love the move. Replaces Darren Radish. You don't have the term of the Radish contract. What was your thought? I yeah, love the term, love the amount. You know, I was thinking it would be at the very minimum nine and a half million. I think Carlson could have demanded that. ⁓ yes, there is the Florida bonus of the no state tax, and it does. I think math wise it it makes this about a ten million dollar deal in some other cities. I'd love the term. I love the two years. I know we were talking the last podcast about would we go for? And that was the breaking point for me. I honestly thought it would be somewhere around three years. Ten million was was kind of what I was zoning in on. But I think he really wants to play in Tampa. I think he sees it as a the type of system where he can thrive in. He's gonna get power playtime. He's gonna be probably on the top pairing. I just published a an article about what the the roster kind of looks like after day one of free agency I had him paired with Moser. I think he drops right into that radish spot on the top pairing and then you figure it out from there. So it's a good fit for him. It's a good fit for the lightning. It lines up with where Vasileschi becomes a ⁓ free agent now. And that's always where I've kind of drawn the line as far as what is the Lightning's window. I think it it's tied directly to Andre Vasileski and how he's playing. ⁓ so if over the next two years he kind of falls back a little bit and the Lightning don't re sign him, you know Now you have a ton of cap opening up and I think that's when you begin your rebuild. ⁓ and it also lines up with Zach Rowinski, honestly. ⁓ two years left on his deal. So if he beat goes to free agency after a while, hey, maybe would they go after Worinski if they are still, you know, building trying to extend that window. So it I I I love the deal. We're gonna see how he does. You know, he's not the most responsible defensive player on the planet, but he has that skill that you can't teach, which is to take the puck from your end of the ice to the other end and set up you know, an attack, he can still skate. He's 36, 37, whatever, something like that. So a lot of people are like, ⁓ look at all the old people on the lightning. But this kid is probably the the best defensive skater in the system, not named Max Groschev. So ⁓ he has something that the the Lightning needed and it's gonna be fun to watch him play. So we'll see if it works. But I love the deal. Well Carolina actually made a trade with Anaheim to get the negotiating rights for Carlson and They had a few days before free agency started on July the first. You had mentioned Tampa being that preferred destination. The fact that Carolina traded for those rights and could not sign him, I think that proves that Tampa was the destination in his mind all along. Now, they weren't done yet. They went to Chicago. Ilya Mikhaev, he signs a four-year deal, fifteen point four million dollars. That's three point eight five million against the cap. Justin, initial thoughts on this one. I think where do you think he slots in the third line? ⁓ that's why I have him starting. ⁓ I think he's got some second line potential. ⁓ he scored eighteen goals last year. He ⁓ I think sixteen of them game came at even strength, if I'm not mistaken. I don't see him getting a lot of power play time, to be honest. ⁓ one of the odd things is he is a left hand shot, which the lightning have more than enough of right now. I I think he they're gonna ask him, hey, you know, play play your best at five on five, give us some penalty killing time. ⁓ he is really dangerous on shorthanded. ⁓ he got two shorthanded goals last year, I believe. He's one these guys who can fly up and down the ice. He's got some size to him. I I really like the signing. It would have been a great signing if he was a right handed shot. ⁓ he does play on the off wing. He plays on the the the right side. I think he's gonna fit in on that third line. Maybe a little Homburg Gord McKay action, which is gonna be a pain to play against, you know. And he gives he gives that line a little bit of offense as well. Really like the signing. ⁓ he's gonna float in that middle six, so ⁓ The term is good. ⁓ the years are good. I think he's going to be one of these quietly. When you look back a year from now, I think he's going to be one of these guys that was a really good signing. During the playoffs, we talked about Montreal speed and Tampa's lack of it. McCayev, I believe, was their first signing during the free agency period. If I'm correct in that? Yeah, it was a back-to-back kind of with him and Beale. So, but he was the first one. About an hour in, a little 45 minutes in or so. Do you think the fact that This guy can skate. He can move. He's gonna improve team speed. Do you think that's why that was an initial target for Julian Breesbois? I think so. I think his play at five on five, ⁓ for, you know, a Chicago team, let's face it, that wasn't very good. His ability to kill penalties and the fact that he can he can move up and down the ice. Yeah, I think those are your three big factors. ⁓ it makes the team a little bit quicker, which is what they need, especially among the forwards. Same thing with Carlson, you know. He's a skater. He's a guy who makes him he makes him faster. And that's something that you need to compete against Montreal, to compete against Detroit. Some of these teams that are on the way up, Buffalo is another one, you know, that that kind of has that team speed that you have to match in a way, not necessarily just offensively either, but defensively getting back, you know. If the if that puck does go the other way, can your forwards get back to help out the defense? And a guy like McKayev, you know, fills that need. The third signing I want to talk about, and Justin and I talked about this off the air, but it's Jeffrey Veal. They signed him from Anaheim a five-year deal, only 12.5 million, two and a half million against the cab. Now, Jeffrey Veal, 99 career games, only 15 career points. But this past season, 45 games, 10 points. He brings a physical presence. He's going to bring a fourth line mentality when you go up against. the Floridas of the world who are real physical and they're going to look to beat you up a little bit. But Justin, my question is you don't have someone better in Syracuse to make up your fourth line. Why are you wasting two and a half million dollars of your salary cap on somebody with 99 career games who's going to turn 30 during the season? To me, five years is a long time to have two and a half million tied up in your cap. Yeah, I mean, we just can't have a free agent season without Julian Brisbane do doing something that makes us question his sanity a little bit, right? He's gotta throw one oddball deal out there. And it happens every year. The term it i it is probably the weirdest contract of the day, I think, in the NHL. Like you said, it just seems like really long. Five years is kinda long. ⁓ the no movement clause the first year, the no the full no trade the second year, just I don't want to know who this guy's agent is, to tell you the truth. I mean, and he deserves a raise and a big one. Can you send him an email and can he negotiate for us? You know? maybe get us on get us one of those ⁓ sweet, sweet deals. ⁓ talked to some guys who cover Anaheim, you from the old SB Nation days. They really like him. He's he's one of these good guys. ⁓ he got better as the season went on. He seemed to get a little bit more comfortable with his role. Like you said, he brings that physicality. And I think the answer to your question is the lightning. obviously didn't think that they have somebody in there that can fill that role. ⁓ we saw Scott Sabarin do it last year. maybe they feel like they needed something a little bit more. the stats don't lie. I there there's not a lot that stands out about him, even when you start digging down deep. ⁓ you know, he's a guy who's played a lot in the AHL over the years. He's un I think believe he was undrafted out of the queue. I I think that's where he ⁓ if I remember you know that my brief ⁓ research into him yesterday. I it is a super weird signing, but sometimes these are the ones that pay off. You know, a lot of people questioned the Pontus Holmberg signing last year and it it paid off. ⁓ same thing with like Charles Destou. Like Charles Edward Destou is a perfect example. This is a guy who who basically played every league except the NHL, comes in and, you know, has a really good year. I think the Lightning have a lot of faith in their professional scouts. and we're gonna see how it plays out. It it it is such a weird deal. It takes away a spot from a younger guy. It's You know, he's basically locked in for two years on this roster, right? And if it doesn't pan out, it's gonna be one of those that that you look back and question mightily. At the same time, two and a half million dollars, it's not a huge hit. Yes, the lightning are gonna be you know, they have they had the cap space this year. It's gonna be a little bit tighter next year once they figure out what they're gonna extend Nikita Kutra for. ⁓ but I think at this point, ⁓ two and a half million dollars You can bury half of it in the i in the AHL if it doesn't pay off. Is it something that you that you plan out, hey, you know, if this doesn't work out in year three, we we agree to mutually terminate your contract, something that's becoming, you know, a lot more of a habit in the NHL than we saw, I think, earlier, especially when we were coming up. I mean, you never heard about somebody getting their contract bought out to just become a free agent, you know, during the early days of the salary cap. So we're gonna see how that plays out. Hopefully he does. ⁓ you know, talking in his press conference, he said he really started to feel comfortable later in the season in Anaheim. He did have two big, you know, playoff goals. Maybe that, you know, JBB saw the highlights and was like, Hey, this guy can score in the playoffs. That's something we need. Yeah. Nobody else on our team. Exactly. He was on this hotel in Montreal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He outscored half our team in the playoffs, you know. So let's let's sign the kid up. ⁓ you know, that being said You know, he is the type of player that probably thrives pretty well in a playoff atmosphere. You know, he's gonna fight for every puck. He's gonna dig into the corners, he's gonna drop the clubs if you have to. And, you know, he does he's above average in speed. He's not like a top ninety percentile guy. I think he was in the sixtieth, seventieth ⁓ percentile as far as speed. ⁓ so he's not really adding that, but he is an improvement over Corey Perry, right? ⁓ would you rather have Corey Perry a back for another year or you know, a a guy like this who's gonna give you a ⁓ you know, a little bit more. So I think the fourth line guy I'd rather have Corey Perry I'd rather have Cory Perry at one million dollars. Well, I'd rather have Jeffrey Veal at one and a you know, I think Jeffrey Veal at one and a half million dollars is the perfect, you know, answer to the question. But it is what it is. We'll we'll roll with it. You know, you gotta add a bad contract every once in a while and ⁓ in the l you know, and that's what you got from ⁓ Bree Spa this year. So There are a lot of guys out there who could fit a fourth line and you don't have to commit the term. You can also go into the season, and if you realize your team doesn't have that physical element near the deadline, you can pick up these guys for a pretty small price. I just think they overreacted. They have bigger needs, preferably a center who can win face-offs. And that's where I'm going to bring in the next lightning move, which was the trade of Nick Paul. Now, Nick Paul had a hard time staying in and out of the lineup recently, but the one thing he could do was he could win face-offs. He goes to Toronto to They get goaltender Dennis Hill to be. Now, I think this is the most important part of this deal. The Lightning actually gets some draft picks coming back to them. They get a 2027 fourth, a 28 third. For a team that's used to trading their draft picks at the trade deadline, these are two assets to date that they can use come trade deadline. I think that'll be very valuable. For Nick Paul, you get a fresh start. You get to go somewhere where you're going to see ice time and regular ice time. We had talked about Nick Paul a little bit. What was his role with the team ⁓ moving forward? Even with some of the younger guys coming in, I think he would have been pressed for ice time. The face off thing's gonna be a problem, depending on what they do. I mean, there are still a few guys out there that could that can win you a draw here or there that you could probably sign for a league minimum going forward. But now you're starting to look into roster spots, right? Who are you gonna kick out? Who's who's who's not gonna play? next year. Bightnair pretty stacked as far as experience. There's not a lot of holes in the roster now after free agency. ⁓ but getting back to Paul, he's a really good guy. He's a Swiss Army knife guy. He he plays up and down the the lineup. everyone says he's great locker room guy. He's like one of these guys always has a smile on his face. Even last year when he's, you know, struggling to stay in the lineup when he's not healthy all the time, you know, he comes to work. He he's a big dude as well. So, you know, he comes out there, he's always willing to play, he's always willing to do what the the team asked him to do. It's gonna be interesting to see how he does up in Toronto. what role he plays up there. It's probably gonna be a bottom six. He's gonna come back to haunt the lightning probably at some point. But ⁓ yeah, he was just kind of the odd man out when you look at like the top six and what the lightning needed. That being said, faceoffs are gonna be a problem. ⁓ I I there's just no way no ifs, ands, or buts about it. They're going to need better out of Braden Point. They're going need better out of Anthony Sorelli. I thought Sorelli had a really good season to start. ⁓ I think he was hovering around 50% for most of the season, then kind of dropped off at the end ⁓ once Paul came back and probably didn't have to take as many. But we're we're gonna see how that affects the lightning. You know, do they just draw up their plays where they plan on losing forty, you sixty percent of their draws and and go from there? But you never know. So We'll see what happens. Do they bring in some coaching? You is Adam Oates out there doing anything? Can teach Brainpoint how to win a draw? We've kind of gone back and forth on on the importance of faceoffs. I I I think you do need that guy that you can send out out there that gives you a better than fifty percent chance to win a draw in your own zone late in a game. And the Lightning don't have that right now. The best face off man in the organization is probably Sam O'Reilly right now. Yeah. It's funny. I think the lightning the Lightning will have an interesting decision. Do you bring him up early or do you say, hey, we want you in Syracuse for the full year? Because I think if he comes up, he's in the fourth line, unfortunately. I I don't see him getting third line minutes and if playing eight, ten minutes a game, I think I'd rather have him in Syracuse, unfortunately. Exactly. The only player on the roster that was over fifty percent ⁓ last year is Dominic James. ⁓ he was at fifty point two percent for the draws. It is it is gonna be something that they have to work on. I I don't know what the solution is right now. I do have a feeling that ⁓ Brees Ball isn't done making moves. I I I I wonder if there's another trade out there. You know, you have a surplus of defensemen now. Someone out of Max Crozier, Emil Lilleberg, and D'Stu are gonna have to go on waivers. They can't carry all three of them now with with who they have on the roster. ⁓ so if your top six are healthy, one of those guys is gonna have to go on waivers to you try and trade him. ⁓ to clear up, you know, do you do you package a deal with like that third round pick, Destiew and I don't know, Gergenson's or something to to bring in that center. ⁓ I think that's your Justin, I'm gonna stop you there real qu real quick. Why would they have to send explain why would they have to send one person and put them on waivers? Because I mean you only have twenty three roster spots that you can carry in the season and you can't carry ten defensemen, right? So you have you have Moser You have Carlson, you have McDonough, you have Turnak, so there's four. Your second your third yeah, your third party's probably gonna be headmen and pick one of those three. So there's six. ⁓ you can carry the extra one, the seventh defensemen, you can carry I don't think they're gonna carry two extra defensemen. ⁓ 'cause you also have to have an extra forward up there as well. So you you just start running out of roster spaces and someone's gotta go down, you know, and it's gonna be one of those three guys. Julian Breespaw, training camps over. You have ten seconds to lose one of those three and and put ⁓ on waivers. Who is it? It's probably Lilliberg. ⁓ I think Destou and Crozier are have a more route well rounded game. ⁓ so I think they make it. I think Crozier's a right handed shot, which he has going for him. ⁓ yes, Destou and ⁓ Lilliberg can play on their off s offhand side, but I I don't think that's ideal. I don't think you want them doing it a lot. So I think it's I think Crozier makes the lineup. I think Destou is your seventh defenseman. I think it's a Lilleberg that you either trade or try and sneak through on waivers. Justin, let's take a look at who the Bolts lost. Four names already have left Tampa. Oliver Bjorkstrand, a one year, four and a half million dollar deal with the New York Rangers. I thought he would probably get two or three somewhere. But for Bjorkstrand, one Four and a half million is a pretty good salary, too. If he has a good year with the Rangers, he can cash in next year in free agency. For the Rangers, I do like the move. I thought it made a lot of sense. Made a lot more sense than half of the other moves they made. I'm still not sure why they got Marcus Petterson for a conditional first round pick. I think Peterson wants to go back and play with Mike Sullivan, but I did think that was a good landing spot for the for the Rangers and for Oliver Bjorkstrand. Yeah, I really honestly I had him paid kind of going back to Columbus, like you said, maybe on a two or three year deal, a little bit less salary, maybe something around three million. It is a good deal. I think he's gonna get a shot to to make that middle six and kind of get back to a power play role as well. So he may fit in a little bit better in his style than he did with the lightning. It just it looked great on paper, it just didn't work out, right? And that's that's the nature of the sport. ⁓ you you you take these chances, you take these risks. Most of the time The analysis pays off and it works out. Just every once in a while just doesn't. You know, I give him credit for never complaining, for accepting his role. I this proud guy who's a veteran. He's scratched for playoff games. I mean, that's gotta hurt. So but he he never said anything. ⁓ he always went out when they wanted him to play the fourth line. He played the fourth line. I thought he did he did everything really well except put the puck in the net. I thought he played with speed, I thought he played with hustle, I thought he was great on the fore check, played defensive ⁓ responsible defensively. ⁓ He did everything except score. That is the one thing he didn't do. If he had ended last year with eighteen, nineteen goals, the Lightning, I'm pretty sure, extend him, right? He probably stays in Tampa and has that second line role. He just it just didn't the puck just didn't go in for him. So moves on. He gets a chance to reset his career, make some late term money. If he has a solid year, starts putting the puck in the net, the the the puck starts bouncing for him again. When he's got fifteen goals by the deadline, you know, he's gonna be somebody who's on the move. Let's talk more about trade deadline candidates. And a guy who's been dealt a lot of trade deadlines is Corey Perry. The old man signs a one year, one million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings also sign Matt Zuccarello. The Kings apparently want to be sponsored by AARP. I don't get this for the Kings. For Corey Perry, hey, you get to go back to LA. One year deal. It's another year in the league. At one year one million, if I was the Lightning, I think I would have re-signed him. I think Corey Perry's done. ⁓ he just wasn't effective with the Lightning last year. Yes, he's got those leadership qualities. Yes, it's a fourth line roll. It's just but at some point you gotta be able to get down the ice. And I think he's starting to struggle with that. I think he's starting to struggle with the play in front of the net. He had four goals with the lightning, but I think two of them came in one game. ⁓ you know, he wasn't there in the playoffs. He didn't he wasn't the kind of that pest. that you normally see wasn't getting the other team off off kilter or on tilt or anything like that. So I just think it wasn't a fit for him. ⁓ I thought they I thought that would that spot would go to a younger player. It it you goes to Jeffrey Veal for now. But ⁓ we'll see how it it plays out. I think it's a good move for him. You are right. It's like the the Kings are building an old timers roster, but it's actually going to play meaningful games, you know, so it's gonna be interesting to see how it works out there. ⁓ To their credit, a lot of them are one year deals. So if it doesn't work out, you know, it's you're not committed too long for ⁓ But yeah, it's it's it's very interesting, especially considering what some of the other teams in that division did. On a one year, one million dollar deal, it wouldn't surprise me if Perry's one of those guys at training camp that's told, Hey, there's not a roster spot for you, and this could be the end of a Hall Fame career for Corey Perry. Mitchell Chafee goes to the New York Islanders. One year eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I know you were hoping that they might find a way to keep him. You had mentioned that earlier in the podcast when we talked about the pending free agents. Not a a move that's gonna make waves or anything, but I think a good spot for him with the Islanders. It is. I think, you know, he's kind of reunited with ⁓ Matthew Darsh up there, ⁓ who I think kind of was a fan of him. And he he He everywhere he goes, he scores. Like he is a great AHL goal scorer. I think the lightning asked him to play a role that didn't fit his skill set up down on the fourth line, down on the third line. I don't think he really ever got a chance to be the player that he can be. I don't he may get that in the island, you know. ⁓ he may get some shots ⁓ further up the lineup. I think he's gonna probably start the season in the AHL with them as well. But he is a really, really good depth kind of forward that you can call up when when you need to. The lightning took a chance on him. He was coming over from the Minnesota organization. He was coming off that big knee surgery. And he had a really good r rookie year with him, but kind of plateaued a little bit. So it it's nice to see he can get another chance and I and I hope he makes the most out of it. Final move was Declan Carlisle going to the Pittsburgh Penguins two years, three million. I thought the Penguins made a puzzling move in trading Parker Watherspoon over to Las Vegas, which allowed them to re-sign Rasmus Anderson But the Penguins don't have many left-handed defensemen right now, and Declan Carlisle fits that bill perfectly. Yeah. And it sounds like the Lightning were actually ⁓ negotiating with him right up until ⁓ yesterday. I think through the weekend they were still trying to find a way to sign him. ⁓ he was one of these, you know, group six free agents where he just didn't have enough NHL time to earn the RFA status, you know, restricted free agent status. So he was an unrestricted free agent on July first. ⁓ I think it's a good fit. I think he's gonna get some playing time up in in Pittsburgh, he's gonna have a chance to compete for a roll up there. He was probably gonna get crowded out, especially on the left hand side here in in Tampa. So it gives him a shot. He he can keep making that NHL money, living that NHL lifestyle. So it's a good landing spot for him as well. Justin, there were some other big signings out there. We talked last podcast about Bowen Byrum with the trade to Chicago, signed a twelve and a half million dollar a year deal for six years. You had Boone Jenner signing 5.75 in Washington for four years. But there's two names that one just came off the board. And tomorrow it sounds like Patrick Kane is going to go to Buffalo. But the first one I want to talk to you real quick is Washington and Alexander Ovechkin took a very team friendly deal. I think it was what $3 million for one season? I think it's a one million dollar salary and then a ton of bonuses. Something like ⁓ I think he gets like two and a half million if he plays ten games. It's kind of one of those ⁓ incentive laden 35 and over deals that if he has a really good season, Washington doesn't have to take the cap hit until next year, really on it. ⁓ and I think it's kind of the moves that Washington made that that you know enticed him to come back. I think Washington's gonna be a really good team. ⁓ the Booden Jenner dealing to be tough. They're gonna be tough. ⁓ the Jordan Cairo pickup earlier in in the offseason, ⁓ Alex Took, I mean, the pickup as well. So, I mean, this is going to be a team that's going to score some goals. And I think Ovechkin, ⁓ one of the appealing parts is it is they're not going to rely on him to score all the offense, right? I I I think he comes back, they're like, Hey, you're you're not going to have to play 27 minutes. You're going to be basically a power play specialist, I think, probably get some like second line minutes. I see him around 17, 18 minutes a game, but six of it's on the power play. My question is if he has a good year and gets 35 some goals, you know, 40 goals. You're getting close to a thousand in the NHL in the regular season. Does it entice him to come back for an you know ⁓ another retirement tour? ⁓ so that's gonna be something to keep an eye on. But I I think it's a good landing spot for him. If he was coming back to the NHL, that's the only place he was gonna play. So I'm glad he's back for another year. Another one of the guys coming for maybe one final ride is Patrick Kane. The rumors are that he is going to sign with the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow. Now, Buffalo lost Alex Tuck. They needed a little bit of offense. I'm not sure Kane necessarily fits the style of play that Lindy Ruff has in Buffalo, but he's definitely gonna bring a a lot of skill to that Buffalo Sabres team. I'm not sure what the term is. Buffalo's got a ton of salary cap space, so they can go and throw a one or two year deal. But I think the biggest part of this is this is a homecoming for Patrick Kane. He's a Buffalo native and he might be able to finish his career in his hometown. Yeah, I and I you know, I like the move from that standpoint, but it is a nice homecoming story. I think he'll provide offense. I do question, like you said, if he fits in their style, which is a an attack heavy, you'll swarm him kind of offense that's moving up and down the ice, kinda a la Carolina a little bit. So it'll be interesting to see how he does. I I I think he makes them better with some of the moves that they made. You know, they did lose Alex Tuch. I don't think he replaces that production, but he is a guy that can set up Tage Thompson for forty goals, right? It Especially on the power play. I think their power play gets a lot better. So it'll be interesting to see how he does if he does sign there. And remember, their power play was pitiful the back half of the year and in the first two series. It wasn't until I think it was game five or game six where they finally had a multiple power play game, but their power play was dreadful. The last ten games and going into that Boston series. Justin, you've had a lot to write about at Raw Charge. What do you have coming up next? I cool off on the free agency. I want to gotta go back, talk about the prospects a little bit. The development camp is going on this week. So the five or the three on three tournament, I believe, begins tomorrow. If you're in the Tampa area, that'd be Friday, I should say. So if you're in the Tampa area, it's free to the public. Go out and see some of those young kids play. ⁓ kind of look at the footage, see how these new guys ⁓ that they drafted kind of play, see how they look. Most of the draft class is in. I think the goaltender is the only one who didn't make it, probably due to some visa issues since he is in Russia. But ⁓ yeah, it should be fun. We'll we'll talk about the prospects. Kind of ⁓ take a 30 foot thir 30,000 foot view of free agency of where the lightning stand and go from there. Like I said, we we did right before we went to air, we did publish the the lineup of how we think it looks, come, you know, the beginning of September and then ⁓ go from there. So we should be getting a schedule release Fairly soon, I think, ⁓ usually the middle of the month, and then ⁓ break down the some of the moves that the Crunch made and go and just keep covering the team. We are still gonna be coming at you with podcasts. We have Victor Matheson coming up in the middle of the month. He is a sports economist, published in the Wall Street Journals, made numerous appearances on NPR. We're gonna ask him about The Tampa Bay Lightning and do they have a tax advantage in Florida and just how much of an advantage that is? We're going to talk about the hockey economics with him. We have other guests lined up. And Justin and I are going to be breaking down more free agency moves, where the lightning is going to go forward. We're going to have all that for you and more on back checking the bolts. Thanks for joining us today. Please hit that like and subscribe button and go bolts. Go bolts. Thank you for listening to Back Checking the Bolts. We are free and available on all platforms, including Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon, YouTube, and Deezer. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe and leave a review. You can follow Justin on Blue Sky at Rawcharge.com. You can follow the show on X at Tampa underscore bolts underscore pod and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at BackcheckingTheBolts. 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